A pro-union bill that has pitted Gov. Jared Polis against every Democratic lawmaker and Colorado’s major labor groups is set to return to the Capitol this year.
But this time, the focus will begin to turn toward two men hoping to occupy the governor’s office next.
Scores of lawmakers and union members heralded the return of the Worker Protection Act in the state Capitol on Thursday, six days before the legislature was set to settle in for its 2026 session. Like its predecessor bill that Polis vetoed last year, the measure would eliminate a unique provision of Colorado law that requires newly unionized workers to pass a second election — on top of the first contest that establishes the union — before they can negotiate union dues with their employer.
The second election comes with a higher threshold to pass — 75% — than the first, which requires a simple majority. Supporters argue that the second election serves only as an impediment to contract negotiations and union organizing.
“You hear politician after politician after politician saying, ‘Affordability, affordabilty, affordabilty …’ ” Rep. Javier Mabrey told supporters Thursday. The lawmaker is set to sponsor the bill with fellow Denver Rep. Jennifer Bacon and Wheat Ridge Sen. Jessie Danielson, both also Democrats. “Well, we are here with an actual, real solution to increase worker power and to increase wages.”
They will be appealing to Polis as much as the two leading candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in blue-leaning Colorado — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser.
The 2026 version of the bill is largely unchanged from , when every Democratic lawmaker voted to advance it. Finding sufficient votes to pass the bill was not an obstacle in 2025 and likely won’t be the main obstacle again this time around. The roadblock comes in the form of Polis.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman said the governor “is frustrated and surprised that the same piece of legislation could come forward, recognizing last year’s outcome and that nothing has changed. He urges labor and business to come together to work on a solution together that is right for Colorado.”
The second-election provision was written into state law in the 1940s and is unique in the United States. Business groups — such as the Colorado Chamber of Commerce — have defended it as a negotiated settlement with unions. The second election, they argued last year, provides workers another opportunity to decide whether to discuss collecting dues.
Indeed, Colorado officials have touted the law to companies when it’s pitched them on moving to the state. In its 2020 proposal to Palantir Technologies, for instance, touted the second election requirement as a “hybrid ‘right to work’ ” law that “gives more flexibility and protection to workers, while mitigating onerous regulatory burden for companies.”
In a statement Thursday, the state chamber’s president and CEO, Loren Furman, reiterated the group’s opposition to the bill.
“The Colorado Chamber’s priority is to preserve the balance in Colorado labor laws that keeps us competitive, respects employee autonomy and attracts top businesses to the state,” Furman said. “The Chamber has not been included in any discussions to collaborate or work through concerns we had from last year’s bill. We will oppose any legislation that runs counter to our priorities and threatens our business climate.”
Last year’s negotiations around the bill — which included the chamber — dragged on for the entirety of the 2025 session. They collapsed in the late spring, after Polis offered to sign the bill if union groups supported his policy goals of cutting restaurant wages (to offset tipped wages’ rapid rise along with minimum wages), establishing more charter schools and privatizing the state’s workers’ compensation insurer.
When lawmakers refused and passed the bill unchanged, the governor vetoed it.
Mabrey told reporters that Polis had “not explicitly” threatened to veto the 2026 bill and that lawmakers hadn’t had formal conversations about the policy with his office in recent months. Mabrey said supporters would “ramp up the pressure” this year and seek to tie union membership with affordability concerns, a top-of-mind policy goal for Democrats across America.
“I don’t know if that’s enough to get him to change his veto,” Mabrey said, “but maybe if we fail this year, we can get it done next year.”
Negotiations will likely begin again. But this session will be Polis’ last, and union groups — who have shelved plans to launch a pro-worker ballot campaign — are now starting to eye the governor’s would-be replacements.
Neither Bennet nor Weiser have said that they support eliminating the second election, including when contacted by The Denver Post on Thursday.
Echoing Polis’ position from last year, Bennet campaign spokeswoman Jordan Fuja said Thursday that the senator hoped labor and business groups could reach a deal in the coming session that “helps not only workers, but also gives businesses certainty in this tough economic climate.” Short of that, she said, Bennet would, as governor, “sit down with all sides” and pursue that deal himself.
Weiser spokesman Nate Jackson said in a statement that the attorney general was committed to “updating” the section of law that includes the second election, though in what manner remained unclear. Should that not happen this year, Jackson said that a Gov. Weiser would also “bring people together, listen and deliver results that lift up all Coloradans.”
With Polis serving as an established — and lame duck — opponent, lawmakers and labor groups are now looking to increase pressure on Weiser and Bennet. Shad Murib, the chair of the state Democratic Party, spoke at Thursday’s rally. He said the bill would keep coming back until it was signed into law, a pledge reiterated by Dennis Dougherty, the executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO.
“Let us come together now,” Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate, told supporters of the bill, “to ensure that any elected official or any candidate who seeks to curry your vote and your favor supports the Worker Protection Act.”
